A young and disillusioned British diplomat abandons his diplomatic career, spends his own money, and risks his very life on a journey of faith and war in Ukraine — a country riven in pieces by indescribable events, sometimes called: an EU-inspired and US-organised revolution, a Russian invasion, a civil war, a war of lies and misinformation, a war where thousands of people have died, and which created over a million refugees, and a war at the heart of Christendom which rips the very geopolitical foundations of Europe to shreds.

With the Ukrainian people (including soldiers, military priests, peacekeepers, humanitarian aid workers, refugees, church leaders, politicians/ ‘terrorists’, ordinary families and everyday victims of the war) as his guide, his journey takes him from the idyllic Carpathian Mountains, to the golden cupolas in Kiev, to the very heart of the hellish war-zone in Donetsk. He embarks on an odyssey from Christmas Eve to the Epiphany, searching for the soul of this troubled nation and for something which might help to bring a lasting end to the bloodshed and prevent a wider military confrontation between Russia and the West. A profound, relevant and spiritual exploration accompanied by beautiful music.

Talented New Filmmaker / International Filmmaker Festival of World Cinema NICE 2017

Special mention 'In the Spirit of Dialogue' - Religion Today Film Festival 2018

90 minutes, in English, Ukrainian and Russian with English subtitles.

There will be an audience Q&A with the director after the screening.

Nicholas Rooney is a young British director who comes from a mainly academic background, having studied Latin, Greek, Philosophy, Diplomacy and International Relations in the UK, Belgium and Russia. He worked as a diplomat for the EU at its Delegation to the Organisation of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna during the height of the Ukraine crisis and was deeply affected by this crisis. He subsequently received training at the National Film and Television School and the London Film School and made two short student films (‘The Widow’s Handkerchief’ and ‘The Red Rose of Venus’) under the supervision of Udayan Prasad. ‘The Pillars of Heaven’ is his first documentary feature film.